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Azure Monitor Agent overview

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  • 11 minutes to read

Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) collects monitoring data from the guest operating system of Azure and hybrid virtual machines and delivers it to Azure Monitor for use by features, insights, and other services, such as Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Azure Monitor Agent replaces all of Azure Monitor's legacy monitoring agents. This article provides an overview of Azure Monitor Agent's capabilities and supported use cases.

Here's a short introduction to Azure Monitor agent video, which includes a quick demo of how to set up the agent from the Azure portal: ITOps Talk: Azure Monitor Agent

Benefits

Using Azure Monitor agent, you get immediate benefits as shown below:

Snippet of the Azure Monitor Agent benefits at a glance. This is described in more details below.

  • Cost savings by using data collection rules:
    • Enables targeted and granular data collection for a machine or subset(s) of machines, as compared to the "all or nothing" approach of legacy agents.
    • Allows filtering rules and data transformations to reduce the overall data volume being uploaded, thus lowering ingestion and storage costs significantly.
  • Simpler management including efficient troubleshooting:
    • Supports data uploads to multiple destinations (multiple Log Analytics workspaces, i.e. multihoming on Windows and Linux) including cross-region and cross-tenant data collection (using Azure LightHouse).
    • Centralized agent configuration "in the cloud" for enterprise scale throughout the data collection lifecycle, from onboarding to deployment to updates and changes over time.
    • Any change in configuration is rolled out to all agents automatically, without requiring a client side deployment.
    • Greater transparency and control of more capabilities and services, such as Microsoft Sentinel, Defender for Cloud, and VM Insights.
  • Security and Performance
    • Enhanced security through Managed Identity and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) tokens (for clients).
    • Higher event throughput that is 25% better than the legacy Log Analytics (MMA/OMS) agents.
  • A single agent that serves all data collection needs across supported servers and client devices. A single agent is the goal, although Azure Monitor Agent is currently converging with the Log Analytics agents.

Consolidating legacy agents

Deploy Azure Monitor Agent on all new virtual machines, scale sets, and on-premises servers to collect data for supported services and features.

If you have machines already deployed with legacy Log Analytics agents, we recommend you migrate to Azure Monitor Agent as soon as possible. The legacy Log Analytics agent will not be supported after August 2024.

Azure Monitor Agent replaces the Azure Monitor legacy monitoring agents:

  • Log Analytics Agent: Sends data to a Log Analytics workspace and supports monitoring solutions. This is fully consolidated into Azure Monitor agent.
  • Telegraf agent: Sends data to Azure Monitor Metrics (Linux only). Only basic Telegraf plugins are supported today in Azure Monitor agent.
  • Diagnostics extension: Sends data to Azure Monitor Metrics (Windows only), Azure Event Hubs, and Azure Storage. This is not consolidated yet.

Install the agent and configure data collection

Azure Monitor Agent uses data collection rules, where you define which data you want each agent to collect. Data collection rules let you manage data collection settings at scale and define unique, scoped configurations for subsets of machines. You can define a rule to send data from multiple machines to multiple destinations across regions and tenants.

Note

To send data across tenants, you must first enable Azure Lighthouse.

To collect data using Azure Monitor Agent:

  1. Install the agent on the resource.

    Resource type Installation method More information
    Virtual machines, scale sets Virtual machine extension Installs the agent by using Azure extension framework.
    On-premises servers (Azure Arc-enabled servers) Virtual machine extension (after installing the Azure Arc agent) Installs the agent by using Azure extension framework, provided for on-premises by first installing Azure Arc agent.
    Windows 10, 11 desktops, workstations Client installer Installs the agent by using a Windows MSI installer.
    Windows 10, 11 laptops Client installer Installs the agent by using a Windows MSI installer. The installer works on laptops, but the agent isn't optimized yet for battery or network consumption.

  2. Define a data collection rule and associate the resource to the rule.

    The table below lists the types of data you can currently collect with the Azure Monitor Agent and where you can send that data.

    Data source Destinations Description
    Performance Azure Monitor Metrics (Public preview)1 - Insights.virtualmachine namespace
    Log Analytics workspace - Perf table    		 Numerical values measuring performance of different aspects of operating system and workloads
    Windows event logs (including sysmon events) Log Analytics workspace - Event table Information sent to the Windows event logging system
    Syslog Log Analytics workspace - Syslog2 table Information sent to the Linux event logging system
    Text logs and Windows IIS logs Log Analytics workspace - custom table(s) created manually Collect text logs with Azure Monitor Agent

    1 On Linux, using Azure Monitor Metrics as the only destination is supported in v1.10.9.0 or higher.
    2 Azure Monitor Linux Agent versions 1.15.2 and higher support syslog RFC formats including Cisco Meraki, Cisco ASA, Cisco FTD, Sophos XG, Juniper Networks, Corelight Zeek, CipherTrust, NXLog, McAfee, and Common Event Format (CEF).

    Note

    On rsyslog-based systems, Azure Monitor Linux Agent adds forwarding rules to the default ruleset defined in the rsyslog configuration. If multiple rulesets are used, inputs bound to non-default ruleset(s) are not forwarded to Azure Monitor Agent. For more information about multiple rulesets in rsyslog, see the official documentation.

    Note

    Azure Monitor Agent also supports Azure service SQL Best Practices Assessment which is currently Generally available. For more information, refer Configure best practices assessment using Azure Monitor Agent.

Supported services and features

In addition to the generally available data collection listed above, Azure Monitor Agent also supports these Azure Monitor features in preview:

Azure Monitor feature Current support Other extensions installed More information
VM insights Public preview Dependency Agent extension, if you’re using the Map Services feature Enable VM Insights
Container insights Public preview Containerized Azure Monitor agent Enable Container Insights

In addition to the generally available data collection listed above, Azure Monitor Agent also supports these Azure services in preview:

Azure service Current support Other extensions installed More information
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Public preview
  • Azure Security Agent extension
  • SQL Advanced Threat Protection extension
  • SQL Vulnerability Assessment extension
 Auto-deployment of Azure Monitor Agent (Preview)
Microsoft Sentinel Sentinel DNS extension, if you’re collecting DNS logs. For all other data types, you just need the Azure Monitor Agent extension. -
Change Tracking Public preview Change Tracking extension Change Tracking and Inventory using Azure Monitor Agent
Update Management (available without Azure Monitor Agent) Use Update Management v2 - Public preview None Update management center (Public preview) documentation
Network Watcher Connection Monitor: Public preview Azure NetworkWatcher extension Monitor network connectivity by using Azure Monitor Agent
Azure Stack HCI Insights private preview No additional extension installed Sign up here
Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) Insights private preview No additional extension installed Sign up here

Note

Features and services listed above in preview may not be available in Azure Government and China clouds. They will be available typically within a month after the features/services become generally available.

Supported regions

Azure Monitor Agent is available in all public regions, Azure Government anmd China clouds, for generally available features. It's not yet supported in air-gapped clouds. For more information, see Product availability by region.

Costs

There's no cost for the Azure Monitor Agent, but you might incur charges for the data ingested and stored. For information on Log Analytics data collection and retention and for customer metrics, see Azure Monitor pricing.

Compare to legacy agents

The tables below provide a comparison of Azure Monitor Agent with the legacy the Azure Monitor telemetry agents for Windows and Linux.

Windows agents

Azure Monitor Agent Log Analytics Agent Diagnostics extension (WAD)
Environments supported
Azure X X X
Other cloud (Azure Arc) X X
On-premises (Azure Arc) X X
Windows Client OS X
Data collected
Event Logs X X X
Performance X X X
File based logs X X X
IIS logs X X X
ETW events X
.NET app logs X
Crash dumps X
Agent diagnostics logs X
Data sent to
Azure Monitor Logs X X
Azure Monitor Metrics1 X (Public preview) X (Public preview)
Azure Storage X
Event Hub X
Services and features supported
Microsoft Sentinel X (View scope) X
VM Insights X (Public preview) X
Microsoft Defender for Cloud X (Public preview) X
Update Management X (Public preview, independent of monitoring agents) X
Change Tracking X (Public preview) X
SQL Best Practices Assessment X

Linux agents

Azure Monitor Agent Log Analytics Agent Diagnostics extension (LAD) Telegraf agent
Environments supported
Azure X X X X
Other cloud (Azure Arc) X X X
On-premises (Azure Arc) X X X
Data collected
Syslog X X X
Performance X X X X
File based logs X
Data sent to
Azure Monitor Logs X X
Azure Monitor Metrics1 X (Public preview) X (Public preview)
Azure Storage X
Event Hub X
Services and features supported
Microsoft Sentinel X (View scope) X
VM Insights X (Public preview) X
Microsoft Defender for Cloud X (Public preview) X
Update Management X (Public preview, independent of monitoring agents) X
Change Tracking X (Public preview) X

1 To review other limitations of using Azure Monitor Metrics, see quotas and limits. On Linux, using Azure Monitor Metrics as the only destination is supported in v.1.10.9.0 or higher.

Supported operating systems

The following tables list the operating systems that Azure Monitor Agent and the legacy agents support. All operating systems are assumed to be x64. x86 isn't supported for any operating system.
View supported operating systems for Azure Arc Connected Machine agent, which is a prerequisite to run Azure Monitor agent on physical servers and virtual machines hosted outside of Azure (that is, on-premises) or in other clouds.

Windows

Operating system Azure Monitor agent Log Analytics agent (legacy) Diagnostics extension
Windows Server 2022 X
Windows Server 2022 Core X
Windows Server 2019 X X X
Windows Server 2019 Core X
Windows Server 2016 X X X
Windows Server 2016 Core X X
Windows Server 2012 R2 X X X
Windows Server 2012 X X X
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 X X X
Windows Server 2008 R2 X
Windows Server 2008 SP2 X
Windows 11 Client Enterprise and Pro X2, 3
Windows 10 1803 (RS4) and higher X2
Windows 10 Enterprise
(including multi-session) and Pro
(Server scenarios only1)		 X X X
Windows 8 Enterprise and Pro
(Server scenarios only1)		 X
Windows 7 SP1
(Server scenarios only1)		 X
Azure Stack HCI X

1 Running the OS on server hardware, for example, machines that are always connected, always turned on, and not running other workloads (PC, office, browser).
2 Using the Azure Monitor agent client installer.
3 Also supported on Arm64-based machines.

Linux

Operating system Azure Monitor agent 1 Log Analytics agent (legacy) 1 Diagnostics extension 2
AlmaLinux 8 X3 X
Amazon Linux 2017.09 X
Amazon Linux 2 X X
CentOS Linux 8 X X
CentOS Linux 7 X3 X X
CentOS Linux 6 X
CBL-Mariner 2.0 X3,4
Debian 11 X3
Debian 10 X X
Debian 9 X X X
Debian 8 X
OpenSUSE 15 X
Oracle Linux 8 X X
Oracle Linux 7 X X X
Oracle Linux 6 X
Oracle Linux 6.4+ X X
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 9+ X
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 8.6 X3 X
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 8+ X X
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7 X X X
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6.7+ X X
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6 X
Rocky Linux 8 X X
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 X3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 X
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 X
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1 X X
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 X X
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 X X X
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS X
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS X3 X X
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS X3 X X
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS X X X
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS X X

1 Requires Python (2 or 3) to be installed on the machine.
2 Requires Python 2 to be installed on the machine and aliased to the python command.
3 Also supported on Arm64-based machines.
4 Requires at least 4GB of disk space allocated (not provided by default).

Note

Machines and appliances that run heavily customized or stripped-down versions of the above distributions and hosted solutions that disallow customization by the user are not supported. Azure Monitor and legacy agents rely on various packages and other baseline functionality that is often removed from such systems, and their installation may require some environmental modifications considered to be disallowed by the appliance vendor. For instance, GitHub Enterprise Server is not supported due to heavy customization as well as documented, license-level disallowance of operating system modification.

Note

CBL-Mariner 2.0's disk size is by default around 1GB to provide storage COGS savings, compared to other Azure VMs that are around 30GB. However, the Azure Monitor Agent requires at least 4GB disk size in order to install and run successfully. Please check out CBL-Mariner's documentation for more information and instructions on how to increase disk size before installing the agent.

Next steps